


Animal Reaction

by Kay (sincere)



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Childhood, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sadism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-21
Updated: 2012-02-21
Packaged: 2017-10-31 12:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/344245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sincere/pseuds/Kay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For once Saphir turns the tables on Peony, treating him to a taste of his own medicine. Jade has never seen Peony's suffering before, and it -- interests him on some level.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Animal Reaction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lynndyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynndyre/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Substitution Reaction](https://archiveofourown.org/works/38228) by [lynndyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lynndyre/pseuds/lynndyre). 



> This is my first remix ever! I'm a little nervous now that all the liberties I took may have overstepped boundaries?! Buuuut... it's done, so I hope everyone likes it and it's okayyy I'M SORRY IF IT'S TOO RANDOM, LYNN.

Jade blamed himself, really. He should have seen the signs -- he knew Saphir well enough to recognize when a mere bad day, for Saphir to rant about in his revenge diary full of petty grievances and vivid but implausible fantasies of vindication, became something more and crossed into the realm of reality. He could pinpoint it down to the second: when a stunned and humiliated Saphir covered in mud had gone suddenly quiet amidst laughter.

But, honestly, he had been busy being satisfied that the incessant whining had stopped, and not given it a second thought.

He didn't regret a single second of getting there, but, still. Academically, he accepted the blame for it.

 

Without any particular awareness or interest in propriety, Peony bounded right into the orphanage after them, carrying a giggling Nephry on his shoulders. It was, as usual, freezing outside, and they were all red-faced and dusted with snow.

Jade said mildly, "I'm going to put on tea," and Peony exclaimed, "I'll come with!" and set the little girl down on her own feet.

Saphir headed straight up the stairs to get changed out of his muddy clothes, but no one missed him.

They did _talk_ about him, though. Peony sat at the rickety wooden table across from the counter and snickered to himself. "I think I just about busted a gut laughing when he grabbed Nephry's ankle and she kicked him in the face. She didn't do it on purpose, but _still!_ "

"I did notice you howling with laughter and rolling on the ground when it happened, yes."

In all honesty, it had been a _long_ day of activity and company, and Jade had been looking forward to the time alone to recuperate. His frayed patience had suffered after dealing with an entire day's worth of Saphir's grating voice, Nephry's constant demands, and Peony's intrusive presence. But he didn't mind Peony's company quite so much when the others were gone, as if somehow being surrounded by people enhanced Peony's annoying qualities, and in a more personal environment he settled down and became less objectionable.

Peony was certainly a strange one.

The prince added gleefully, "And covered in mud like that! That was my favorite."

"It doesn't take much to please you," Jade observed.

That was when it had all turned around: Saphir had been complaining about how Jade was always so much nicer to Peony than to him. Jade had told him with half his attention, _Perhaps you should try to be more like Peony, then._ Outraged, Saphir had shoved his way past Nephry to protest this indignity, knocking the six-year-old down, and Peony had retaliated with a hard, angry shove that sent Saphir reeling straight into a muddy dip in the ground. Saphir had been coated in the frosted mud, sitting there with eyes wide, and Jade had leaned over to tell him, _Peony, not Peony's rappig._ Peony had cackled, _No, no, Sherry's cleaner!_

And then they had gone home.

Jade turned, a cup of tea in each hand. Peony reached out for it, and Jade told him, "Get your own. This is for Nephry." Her tiny body needed the warmth more, logically speaking.

Saphir came barreling down the stairs as Jade headed back to the girls' floor, fully dressed in clean clothes and with his hair neatly combed. But even the sight of him sent Peony into new fits of snickering. Saphir announced shrilly, "I'm going to ask Nana if she wants help with dinner! So get out of the kitchen!"

"Can I stay for dinner?" Peony asked, straightening up avidly.

"Why would you want to?" Jade returned, eyebrows lifting. "You have real chefs at your estate, and Saphir won't have touched the food."

" _Stay or go, I don't care!_ " Saphir announced, every inch of his body vibrating with his obvious caring, and he manhandled Peony out of the kitchen, which the older and taller and stronger boy graciously allowed.

Peony turned to Jade with a grin. "You heard him. I can stay."

Jade rolled his eyes and resumed his progress up the stairs.

Miss Tanner -- or, as Saphir insisted on childishly calling her, Nana -- was the matron of the orphanage, and she was not so stupid that she had failed to notice Peony's true identity. She set the table in front of him a little timidly, even while the other children played obliviously around him and Peony watched with every sign of genial engagement.

Only a handful of children stayed there with Jade, his sister, and Saphir, and they were all younger, closer to Nephry's age. For some reason, no one had ever seemed interested in adopting Jade or Saphir: perhaps the possession of eyes and ears and common sense.

Miss Tanner was always delighted when one of the children wanted to help out, and Saphir was a relentless suck-up, so no one had questioned his desire to help cook. It wasn't until they settled down to eat their stew that anything seemed out of place -- when Peony chewed thoughtfully for several long, slow seconds before asking, "What's in this stew, Miss Tanner?"

And the one who answered was Saphir, with a sly, " _Rappig._ "

There was a heartbeat of stunned silence from Peony, with Jade and Nephry both stiffening in their seats while the other children ate contentedly. Nothing unusual about that, after all. Rappig meat was considerably cheaper than real pork, and many other kinds of meat. It wasn't a strange thing to be eating.

Unless you were Peony.

The prince got up so fast that his chair went toppling behind him, and he flew out of the room with dizzying speed. Jade heard his footsteps on the stairs, flying up to the boys floor bathroom.

"You're _horrible_ ," Nephry said accusingly, and Saphir had the good grace to look wounded.

Not as wounded as he was going to be when Jade got through with him, Jade thought, rising to his feet. But that was a matter for another time. Something to keep Saphir up nights, wondering. For now he simply left the table, quietly and with dignity.

Peony was bent in front of the wash basin, shuddering. He was the picture of sickness, the skin Jade could see unnaturally paled and lightly touched with sweat, blonde strands of hair damp and clinging to the back of his neck. He didn't look up when Jade entered, hanging over the edge of the basin and to all appearances unresponsive.

Jade considered him, curious. The older boy had no doubt never eaten something so cheap and fatty as rappig meat, the literal poor man's pork, which itself Peony abstained from. Even if the low-quality food wasn't enough to turn his stomach, the repulsive nature of eating an animal he enjoyed socially could certainly engage the gag reflex.

There was a long moment, another shudder, and then Peony lifted his head just enough to ask thickly, "Are you here to make fun of me?"

"I'm not that easily entertained," Jade said, lifting his eyebrows. "Would you like some water?"

Another beat of silence passed, and then Peony nodded mutely. Jade fetched a small cup from the cabinet and handed it to him, and he straightened, raking his hair back out of his face. He was still shaking a tiny bit, his features tight.

Retching put a terrible strain on the body, but it usually ended in a release of endorphins that Peony didn't seem to be experiencing. Jade had no stake in Peony's suffering and no investment in what had upset him, but there was _something_ keeping him there. He hadn't yet quite figured out what.

"Saphir went through all that trouble to ruin your day, we should return the favor at _least_ tenfold," Jade found himself saying.

Peony made a sound that wasn't quite a laugh, short, and sipped the water, grimacing as he swallowed it. "I'm not -- really in the mood for pranks right now."

The strain in his face was something Jade had never seen before. He said idly, "That's saying quite a lot, considering your proclivities. Was the stew that bad?"

" _Jade._ "

Peony's voice was harsh, unexpectedly firm, ending that insincere line of questioning. Jade had never heard him speak that way before, and his eyes narrowed, thoughtful. It was almost... commanding, and Jade was not accustomed to being commanded, nor to being commanded by Peony, whose status Jade acknowledged intellectually but did _not_ submit himself to personally.

But that reaction was intriguing. That -- intensity. As close to bestial as Jade had ever seen him: hurt and snapping and defensive. This was why he was staying.

"You really care about those stupid creatures, don't you?" Jade mulled, watching him.

It was a completely foreign concept to him. He understood intellectually that people became emotionally attached to animals, but approaching the _why_ of it intellectually was an exercise in futility. For all pets, but even moreso rappigs. Rappigs were stupid, useless, destructive animals without the self-preservation instincts to resist being bred, fattened, and slaughtered in captivity.

In a way, monsters were far more admirable. They accepted the dominion of no other, they gave everything they had to protect themselves and whatever others fell under their biological imperatives, and they were resilient, surviving in harsh environments and circumstances that would wipe out the meek defenseless rappigs.

But no one wanted a monster to sleep at the foot of their bed, of course. That was part of the point.

"Of course I do," Peony said thickly. "You don't think I'm just faking it, do you?"

"I don't think you've faked anything in your whole life," Jade said, and he meant it. More than anything else, Peony was _earnest_ , sincere and attentive and somehow much more _human_ than Jade had ever observed other humans to be.

He was very, very strange, really. And Jade didn't understand him.

Peony was rubbing vaguely at his face now, visibly trying to pull himself together. He was twelve years old, and it was difficult for him to shake off a rough experience like that.

"Does he really hate me that much?" the blonde boy asked, quiet.

There were a lot of answers that Jade could have given him. A simple _yes_ would have sufficed, of course. A more elaborate _of course Saphir would hate you after all the jokes and pranks made at his expense_ would have thoroughly addressed the issue. Or perhaps the most complete answer would have been best: _for whatever reason, sensible or otherwise, the things that keep me interested in you alienate insecure fools like Saphir who fear your ability to adapt to any circumstance and become the center of attention effortlessly_.

He said instead, "Even Saphir probably doesn't know how he feels. He had a bad day, and he likely just lashed out in response like a wounded animal," with a shrug.

It was probably a mistake to coddle Peony's feelings -- or even to think that they needed coddling. But he didn't want to just say _yes_.

Peony chuckled, more real this time, and said, "Yeah, well. I'm not about to let this go so easily either."

That was much better. Jade agreed, "We'll show him what a mistake he made."

But he didn't forget that moment for a long time, that moment of weakness, rare and odd. After all, if there was one constant in the world of monsters, it was survival of the fittest.


End file.
